I Will Follow You Into The Dark
by MisplacedAngst
Summary: After a routine mission goes wrong, Daniel and Vala are left trapped. Giving them a chance to learn much more about each other's lives and respective past's.


**A/N:** This was written for the Daniel/Vala ficathon over at Livejournal. My three prompts were rain, hands and history...Just to give a heads up the ending is a bit abrupt, if enough people I ask I will write a squeal...Also for any of you who are reading _Light Years Away_ please bear with me I am still working on the next chapter...Finally, I must give many thanks to the two best beta's ever dvshipper and Khentkawes.

**I Will Follow You Into The Dark**

"Daniel, do you think they're close?" Vala asked, her voice weak and strained. She had barely finished her question before she began coughing again. A deep wet cough that had Daniel wincing in sympathy.

"They're close. I know they're close," he stated with absolute certainty. "You know our team. Mitchell doesn't know the meaning of the word quit, Sam can solve any problem she's faced with and Teal'c will fight to his dying breath to save a friend," Daniel wrapped Vala in his arms, trying to reassure her the only way he knew how.

They had been trapped for the last 13 days in some sort of stone prison cell on P3X-775. Vala had been helping him investigate the temple ruins that SG-7 had stumbled upon during a routine mission. The temple had evidence of Ancient writings that had warranted further investigation. While the rest of the team set up a perimeter outside, Daniel and Vala had begun their check of the temple, making sure that the ruins were still structurally sound. They had only been in the main room of the temple for a matter of moments when all of a sudden there was a blinding light from the ceiling, and then nothing.

Daniel suspected that it was a booby-trap set up to keep people out of the temple. SG-7 had only entered the first two rooms before turning back, so they had no way of knowing there was a trap. From what he could guess, they had been transported somewhere else on the planet, but there was no way of knowing for sure. There were no openings of any kind in this sort of prison cell, only a narrow corridor that led about eight feet before it came to a dead ended. It was almost like a cave pit, the ceiling went up a good forty feet. There was no way to climb the walls, they were smoothed over. Daniel didn't dare try to use the C-4 to blow a hole in one of the walls for fear of a cave in. Their radios offered no help, only static, which meant they were either out of range or so far underground the rock was creating interference.

The first few days had gone fine with only a minimal amount of bickering. They had water, MRE's, flashlights and their sprits were high. By their sixth day of being trapped, however, the water was running out, the flashlights were losing power and Vala was developing a cough from the damp air. Some time during day ten she started running a fever. Everyday her condition got a little worse, and Daniel was beginning to fear that by the time the others found them she would be too far gone.

* * *

"Talk to me, Vala," Daniel whispered into the darkness, nearly an hour later, needing to know she was still there, even though he could feel her pressed against his side. "Tell me your favorite memory."

They had been sharing secrets the last several days, whispering to each other things that no one else had ever known or thought to ask about. It was the only way to pass the time. Daniel had learned more about Vala in the last 13 days than he had in the last year. At first it had been silly things like favorite foods and guilty pleasures. Vala admitted to a love of the Terminator movies and bananas with peanut butter. Daniel told of his secret love of comic books and pickle juice.

Things had grown much more personal, however, after Vala had confessed to stealing his old college sweatshirt from his office after he had been taken by Adria. She explained that after having a nightmare about what Adria could be doing to him, she had taken it to sleep in. She said it made her feel connected to him, safer. Vala then stated that it was the most comfortable article of clothing she had and he would not be getting it back. He had in turn admitted that for weeks after she had disappeared into the Ori galaxy, he had slept in her quarters at the base. He had missed the connection that they shared, a connection he still couldn't quite explain. He had also admitted to having one of her butterfly hair clips she had left in his office, tucked away in his desk drawer.

The last day or so they had begun sharing their past histories, first kisses, lost loves and embarrassing stories. Daniel told her things about his life with Sha're, things he had not thought of in years. Vala explained some of her less racy stories, allowing him to learn more about her innocent times.

"I was ten," She began, wheezing slightly, but not coughing. "My Mother and I were at home alone, Jasec was off world as always… Anyway we had been out in the garden, picking vegetables for dinner and it started to rain, you know one of those sudden summer storms." Daniel nodded his head that he understood even though Vala couldn't see him. "My mother started to dance. It was the first time in a long time that I had seen her that free and peaceful." Vala coughed loudly before continuing.

"I watched her for the longest time, mesmerized. I had never seen anything so beautiful, she looked like a goddess. I wanted to be just like her. Eventually she took my hands and twirled me around with her. We stayed outside, dancing in the rain until it finally grew dark. I'll never forget that day…how content she was to be. Every time it rains I remember her face and that day. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Because the next summer, she died giving birth to my brother."

"You have a brother?" Daniel asked, he had never heard Vala talk about him before. It shocked him sometimes how little he knew about her life before they had met.

"Ved…I haven't seen him since I was taken by Qetesh." Daniel tucked her closer into his side, knowing instantly that this was going to be a rough story. "After the Tok'ra released me, I went back to my home planet to try and get my life back, only to learn that Adria had sold him to a slaver while I was gone."

"Why didn't Jasec stop her?" Daniel interrupted, his dislike for her deadbeat father growing.

"He was off world again. I questioned him thoroughly but he swore Adria had told him that Qetesh took Ved as well… Anyway, I tracked the slavers as far as one of Camulus' planets before the trail went cold," she explained in a pained voice. Daniel could feel his shirt growing damp where her face was pressed. "He was only five and a half, just a baby…I don't even know what he looks like now." Vala's voice broke with emotion. "I promised my mother that I would take care of him and I lost him."

"Shh…" Daniel soothed. "It is not your fault, you had no way of stopping Adria. It was her fault, not yours."

Daniel let Vala cry, knowing that it was probably the first time in years that she had let her guard down in front of another person. He never imagined that he would ever see her this open, and was honored that she felt safe enough with him to show her vulnerable side so freely. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head when she began to settle. He wasn't sure how long she cried.

* * *

"Tell me something happy…What do you remember most about your mother?" The raven haired alien asked sometime later after another coughing fit.

"I remember the way she smelled," the archeologist began. "When I was sent to the orphanage I took one of her jackets with me. I'd hug it when I was scared or sad. It smelled like her, like home," Daniel remembered. "Those first few weeks in the orphanage after my parents died were impossibly hard. I was back in the United States, which was mostly a foreign country to me. I didn't know a soul and the other boys picked on me mercilessly. The only thing that kept me from breaking down in tears at the drop of a hat was that jacket. It was a soft weathered kaki she used to wear during the cool nights in Egypt. When I was small, I would crawl into her lap and she would wrap it around me, while my Dad read to us around the camp fire," Daniel reminisced.

"That sounds nice," Vala said. Daniel could hear the smile in her voice.

"It was. We were always together, always close. That was the hardest part of losing them, losing that closeness. It wasn't until Sha're that I found that again," He explained, not knowing if it really made much sense.

"I'm sorry you lost her," Vala said sincerely.

"I wish I could have saved her," Daniel had long ago learned that no amount of regret could change the past but it still hurt sometimes to think about his failures. "She had so much life left."

"It wasn't your fault that she died, and at least you fought for her. Most in your place would have just given up and moved on with their life." Vala paused to cough again, this time it lasted several minutes. Daniel helped her take a much needed drink of water from their last bottle. "Thank you…I've read the mission reports, Daniel. You never stopped trying to find her."

"Why do you say that?…That most would have just given up?"

"Because that's what my betrothed did. After I was taken, he just gave up. I went back to him, but he had already moved on and married, even had a few children. I don't begrudge him continuing his life but it hurt that he gave up so easily." Vala snuggled closer to him, her fever was becoming more obvious, but he had no way of checking it accurately. He only had a small field first add kit. Sam carried the more intensive one, with antibiotics and thermometer. "So just know that if I had been Sha're, the fact that you never gave up would have meant the world."

Her words touched him, Daniel had never thought of it that way before, only ever seeing his failure to save Sha're.

"Why don't you sleep some," he suggested, after Vala yawned loudly.

"Okay."

After he was sure that she was asleep, Daniel pulled out the radio, trying again to reach their team members, but there was only static. They were running out of time.

* * *

Mitchell leaned back against the rock he was using as a back rest and sighed. God, he hated this. Really hated it, there were only three things that he hated in life and one of them was losing a team member. He has lost two. 13 days missing, and they were nowhere closer to finding Daniel and Vala then they had been on day one. It was beginning to wear on him, even Teal'c was losing hope of finding them alive.

The worst part yet had been the call to Jack. The General had promptly ordered him to find his geek or else. A threat Mitchell was taking seriously, one word from Jack O'Neill and he was out on his ass.

One thing was for certain when they found Jackson and Vala, neither of them was going anywhere off-world ever again without him or Teal'c as a guard.

* * *

"I loved her," Vala said suddenly, in the middle of the night.

"Who?" Daniel asked, pulling himself from sleep.

"Adria. I know she was an Ori and I know she had to be stopped, but she was still my daughter." Daniel sat in stunned silence. This was the last place he had expected her to go. These were fresh wounds. Adria had only been gone a few weeks. "I felt her grow inside of me. I felt her kick and get the hiccups. She was my baby and they ruined it."

"I'm so sorry, Vala. But she wasn't ever really yours—"

Vala cut him off before he had a chance to go any further. "Yes, she was, Daniel. That is what no one seems to understand. They used my DNA to create her. She looked just like my mother. She had my hands," Vala was yelling, she began coughing again but she didn't let it slow her rant. "She was a part of me, and I never got the chance to save her. If I could have raised her, guided her…I never even got the chance to tell her that I loved her."

"She knew, Vala. She could read your emotions, she knew."

* * *

"I don't think, they are going to find us." Vala whispered. It was day 14 and there was still no answer on the radio. The food was all gone with the exception of one protein bar that Daniel was keeping back and there was only one bottle of water left. Vala's condition had worsened in the night, her breathing had grown more labored.

"Don't give up yet," Daniel pleaded with her. If Vala gave up hope it was only a matter of time before she let go completely. He didn't want to be in this alone, didn't want the team to find only one survivor. He wasn't sure he could recover from failing someone else he cared for.

Taking her hand in his Daniel lay down next to her, running his free hand through her hair. "Don't let go. I need you to hang on because I can't be here all alone." He could feel tears welling in his eyes but he didn't care. "I swear to you, if you hold on until they find us, I will take you anywhere you want to go. We never got to have our make-up date, we can do whatever you want. Just hold on."

Vala squeezed his hand, "So you admit it was a date."

Daniel laughed through his tears. "I never said that."

That was how they stayed, laying on the cave floor, hands held together tightly, Daniel running his fingers through her hair. He whispered promises of dancing, karaoke, Terminator marathons, anything he could think of that would keep her with him. They were either coming out of this together, or not at all.

* * *

"Cam, I've found it!" Sam yelled. They had been searching for Daniel and Vala day and night for the past two weeks. All of Stargate Command's resources were focused on a single planet. All available SG teams were searching the planet for any sign of the pair, while she and an army of scientists searched the temple for a way to reverse whatever had transported her teammate.

Sam would never forget that day two weeks ago. They had just finished setting up a perimeter when there was a blinding light from the main temple room. By the time they had made it to the temple, Daniel and Vala were gone.

Sam knew they were running out of time. The resources in Daniel and Vala's packs were only enough to last them comfortably for ten days and that was only if they were both uninjured. She had finally found it though, a control panel that, by her estimations, would control the transporter.

Mitchell came barreling through the entrance a few seconds later. "You got it?"

"I got it. This should only take a few minutes, so have the med team standing by." Sam instructed as she recalibrated the controls, crossing wires and entering data into her tablet. Not three minutes later she was done. Sending a silent prayer to anyone listening that she would be transporting back two live team mates, Sam pressed the appropriate buttons to bring them back.

There was a blinding light, and just as suddenly it was gone. In its place on the floor were Daniel and Vala, hands clasped tightly and looking for all the world like they were dead. Sam choked back a sob as the med team rushed to their sides and began their work.

"They're alive" Carolyn Lam announced, a several seconds later. "They're alive."

* * *

**Reviews are love**


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